March 10, 1917 



HARDWOOD RECORD 



17 



excessive weight. The weight must be^ufficient in the rolling baiiT;o 

 send the pins flying. The best wood balls are of lignum-vitae and 

 ebony. They nm»t be as nearly perfect spheres as it is possible to 

 make them. 



Mallets of heavy woods are popular, because the force of the blow 

 bears a ratio to the weight of the tool;, and the heavier the material 

 the smaller the mallet may be. Printers prefer mallets of lignum-\-itae 

 because they not only have the necessary weight for the stroke, but 

 they stand a long period of pounding the plane and the shooting stick. 



Canes and umbrella handles of excessively heavy woods are popular 

 with certain people, chiefly because unusual weight in wood is often 

 associated with imported stuff of rare value. To a large degree this 



AMERICAS LIGHTEST WOOD. 

 Floats made of leitneria roots to assist fishermen in hauling their seines 

 at the proper angle to scoop up and retain the flsh. 



idea is based on a misunderstanding, but while the idea prevails it will 

 influence the market for canes and umbrellas. The heaviest woods are 

 not necessarily the most valuable. Okume mahogany, for instance, 

 weighs no more than the white pine. In selecting woods for canes and 

 umbrella handles, perhaps as many are chosen because of extreme 

 lightness as for unusual heaviness; and the range of choice is very 

 great. 



Heavy woods are usually chosen for ornamental carvings like 

 statuettes, busts, and such articles as are intended to stand out alone. 

 Here again the idea prevails that weight means value. 



Dumb-bells and Indian clubs in gymnasiums are usually made of 

 heavy woods so that the desired weight may be had without excessive 

 size. 



The manufacturers of broom handles seek heavy woods for business 

 reasons. They usually sell the handles by the ton. Beech is cheap and 

 weighty and therefore popular writh the makers of broom handles, 

 but the final user might be better pleased with a lighter handle. 



Weights of Certain Woods 

 The following list of thirty woods, with oven-dry weight of each per 

 cubic foot, includes the lightest and heaviest in the United States, and 

 also a number of the species in common use. Oven-dry weight is below 

 any dry -kiln weight and is obtained only in the laboratory where small 

 samples are submitted to a moderately high degree of heat untU they 

 cease to lose weight. 



Pounds Pounds 



percu. ft.. percu. ft.. 



Wood oven dry Wood oven dry 



Leitneria (root wood) 10 Tupelo 32 



Spanish bayonet 17 Sycamore 3o 



California bigtree 18 Red gum 37 



Arbor vitae 20 White ash 41 



Balm of gilead 23 White elm 41 



Cottonwood 24 Northern red oak 41 



White pine 24 Beech 43 



Hemlock 26 Longleaf pme 44 



Yellow poplar 26 Mahogany 40 



Basswood 28 White oak 46 



Chestnut 28 Sweet birch 47 



Black willow 28 Shell bark hickory 52 



Cypress 28 Lignum vitae 71 



Western yellow pine 29 Mangrove 72 



Southern red cedar 31 Black ironwood HI 



The Woodless Kingdom 



A new candidate is in the field. It is the kingdom of Arabia, and 

 it has made application to the United States and various other govern- 

 ments for recognition as one of the family of nations. The people 

 took advantage of the European war to declare their independence of 

 Turkey, of which Arabia was formerly a part. Two or three battles 

 sufiiced to whip all the Turks in Arabia, and since no more could be 

 sent, the people speedily achieved their independence and selected a 

 king. For the present, their government seems to be well established, 

 and they want regular recognition. 



This is an interesting event and a notable one in history. In some 

 respects the Arabs are and have long been the poorest people in the 

 world. Most of the country is desert, and much of it cannot support 

 human Ufe. It is destitute of timber. A few scrub trees in ravines, 

 and palm trees where water can be had, constitutes the country's 

 forests. Throughout the whole area of a mUliou square miles there is 

 not as much timber as may be found on a square mile of our Pacific 

 coast. In all our plans of sending agents across the sea to study mar- 

 kets for lumber, nobody has ever mentioned Arabia. Yet, there is a 

 population of not less than sis million people who are prospective 

 purchasers of lumber. It is true that prospects are rather slim at this 

 time, but the opening is there. Not much wood is required in building 

 a tent or in making a camel saddle; but the Arabs are now looking 

 for better things; they want to take their place among the nations, and 

 it is probable that they are wUling to be shown better ways of living. 

 Their ability to buy is not large, but it may increase. 



Arabia is an interesting country, chiefly because so little is known 

 about it. Its history fades away in the past, and nobody knows the 

 beginning. Scholars think the Arabs are closely akin to the Egyptian 

 pyramid builders; but whether the Egyptians originated in Arabia 

 or the Arabs in Egypt, no man knows. The ancient Arabs were the 

 greatest scholars of their time. It is believed that the author of the 

 book of Job in the Bible was an Arab, and drew upon the store of 

 wisdom in ancient Arabia. His knowledge of natural history, geology, 

 astronomy and philosophy was astonishing at that time; besides, he 

 gave the world a poem, surpassing any other theological poem ever 

 penned — not excepting "Paradise Lost." The ancient Arabs were a 

 nation of poets and mathematicians. They gave us the figures used in 

 writing numbers. Their figures were far superior to those invented by 

 the Eomans. They gave the world the science of algebra. They were 

 profound philosophers. When the Dark Ages covered the rest of the 

 world, the Arabs were translating the books of the Greeks and writing 

 commentaries on the works of Aristotle. 



It is believed by Eenan that the Hebrew race came out of Arabia, 

 and reached Palestine by passing through Mesopotamia. The influence 

 which that race has exercised on the progress of the world has been 

 enormous. Arabia produced Mohammed, who gave half the world the 

 religion which it professes. 



This is the people who now want to take their place in the family 

 of nations. Why not? During thousands of years they have main- 

 tained their existence under difficulties which would have destroyed 

 nearly any other people. Tlieir early attempts to organize govern- 

 ments were defeated by armies of invasion, either from Asia or Africa. 

 Their country had not sufiicient resources to finance wars, which doubt- 

 less accounts for their failures to maintain governments. But they 

 may be able to do so now. They produce the best coffee, the best dates, 

 and the finest horses in the world, and if given a chance to develop, 

 free from the Turkish incubus, it may be found that their mineral 

 resources constitute enormous wealth. The ancient Egyptians dug 

 copper in Arabia, and probably the gold mines of Ophir were in that 

 almost-forgotten land; and if modern miners are permitted to explore 

 the country they may dig up something valuable that wiD make the 

 Arabs able to pay for such commodities as they may wish to import. 



Perhaps some people really are unfortunate, but most people jurt 

 think thay are. 



A campaign of education among the jobbing planing mills of 

 the country with a view to having them use more short lengths 

 in their work should prove beneficial to the planing millmen and 

 should help enlarge the market in this field for the shorter stock 

 where it is now in poor favor. 



